MARDEK

I played the original flash version in high school on Kongregate, and it was great at the time, thought I'd just get it and replay it. I'm enjoying it, but without the nostalgia value it definitely wouldn't hold up as well, since it's literally a flash game from 15 years ago. If you can get past that, you're getting a good 40 hours of gameplay out of it

Хорошая классическая JRPG, для фанатов FF самое-то. Жаль нет русского языка

This is a time capsule of great online gaming from the mid 2000's. If you want to experience a wealth of nostalgia, or just want a peek into the not-so-distant past, Mardek is a solid choice. Let me tell you in how many ways this game is so impressively reflective of its era. The game itself is a parody of Final Fantasy and JRPGs, made by a person who clearly grew up on those games, which a lot of people had around the mid 2000's. There were tons of fun new games inspired by this genre like Adventure Quest, Sonny, and Swords and Sandals, and Mardek somehow feels like all of those games at once. Even if you haven't played Mardek before, it will feel like seeing a long-lost friend again if you enjoyed any of these games. The graphics look like a passion project from a young person who was just finding their style on deviantart, drawing their own anime and furry OCs, and it's very endearing. We now live in an era of licensed and stock assets being put into indie games to lend them a more professional look, but the developer made all of their own artwork. While it is not the most technically impressive artwork, the style fits perfectly to be symbolic of this era of gaming. The music is a bunch of MIDI-style fantasy-style songs that would sound right at home on Runescape soundtrack, which is just more of a reason why it's a brilliant time capsule. The songs are legit well composed as well, and the developer did all of the composition themselves too. A real Toby Fox of their era. The dialogue is a strong point of this game -- it's funny, yet there are moments which the game does take itself seriously. There are great moments where the game breaks the 4th wall, parodies tropes of JRPG games, and makes good original joke. There are other moments that work to move the story along, and they definitely work, but aren't Jane Austen-level prose. The story is at its best when it's making you laugh. Play Mardek if you're an RPG fan who grew up on flash games in the 2000's. If you didn't, the experience may feel a bit dated, but you'll still find a solid RPG game to play underneath it all.

simple graphics kept me away initially but loving the game so far

I have a real soft spot for the flash era and Mardek RPG is no doubt one of that era's best. Remarkable depth, quality, and challenge, but with a strange charm that I think is only possible when a work of art is the result of an auteur's singular vision. Adding a second artist or even a large enough audience and it's much harder to keep your ideas intact. The game is by no means perfect in mechanics or in story (I think that parodying RPG tropes was already on its way out by the time act 3 was originally released). Nevertheless I highly recommend this to anyone who likes RPGs or just seeing what a single developer could do back in the day.

game i bought purely for nostalgia turned out to actually be a really good, well written game, crazy stuff

epic game